The weather has been really HOT lately but today it looked like this:
So I decided it was a good time to make the soup I've been craving...
And if anyone else wants to try it out here's how you make it:
If you're using dry beans... put them (I used about one cup dry) in a crock pot covered with water on high for 3 to 4 hours:
Then strain them and set them aside
The ingredients I used this time are in the picture below but if you prefer having the list you will need:
3 Small potatoes
2 Zuchini
8 Carrots (I used more than is shown in the picture... yes... I can count)
1 Onion
2 stalks of celery
2 to 4 cups Spinach (I used some that I froze and it worked great)
1 cup dried pinto beans or 1 to 2 cans
4 Cups chicken stalk
1 cup pastini (I used Orzo)
Salt
... I usually add celery but surprisingly enough the store was sold out... you can get creative with what veggies you put in... it's good with almost any combination of these healthy foods. :) You can even substitute the potatoes for sweet potatoes/yams which are better for you. If you do that though, I would peel them since they have a tougher peel.
Wash and chop up your veggies into big chunks:
Put them in a pressure cooker:
Add your beans:
Add a generous amount of spinach (as much as you can fit in... this stuff is SO good for you)
and
About this much salt (like a tablespoon... ish)
It will look like this :)
Then fill it up with water until the water ALMOST covers all your veggies and spinach:
Put the lid (and weight) on and turn the stove on high until it starts hissing... then turn it down to medium-high and time 20 minutes...
In the mean time... start warming 4 cups of chicken stock in a separate pot and add about 1 cup pastini to it when it starts boiling and let it simmer until the pastini is cooked:
.
I used Orzo pastini:
It will look something like this when it is cooked:
when 20 minutes is up make sure to let ALL of the pressure out (taking the wait off... it may spray so you'll have to do it in spirts... i.e. remove wait for a couple seconds, replace it, wait a couple seconds... repeat). Then remove the lid and you will get something like this:
Then I use an immersion blender to blend it all up... if you don't have one of these you can transport it into a blender and blend it up that way.
You will end up with this:
Then add the pastini and broth to your pureed veggies for the finished product.
Now for the toppings... I like to add a little bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Parmesan cheese to my bowl but Randy likes a hint of lime, hot sauce and Parmesan on his... use what you like. :)
Since we have a porch especially for watching rain storms, we enjoyed our soup on the porch. :)
Oh and... Lena liked it too :)
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